What You Don't Know Can't Hurt You
by Rapunzel247
Summary: What you don't know about Rose. 10thRose. No spoilers.


**What You Don't Know Can't Hurt You**

If you know the Doctor, you know me very well but you probably can't guess who I am. We won't bother with names right now. What I have to say is much more urgent and anyway, what you don't know can't hurt you, right?

* * *

There are a lot of things the Doctor knows about Rose. He knew her date of birth, her place of (previous) employment, her parents' names, where she lived, her middle name, how she likes her tea and coffee, her favourite colour, her two previous boyfriend's names, what pyjamas she wears and what she has for breakfast. In short, he knew almost everything about her. But what he doesn't know about her is far more important than what he did.

There are few things that Rose knows about the Doctor. She didn't know his date of birth, his place of (previous) employment, his parents' names, his real name, how he likes his tea and coffee, his favourite colour, his dating history, what pyjamas he wears and what he had for breakfast. But what he wants to tell her is far more important that what she didn't know.

Those two important things are about to collide. Someone will die. Someone will realize their mistake, just too late. And I will be left to clean up after it all.

* * *

Rose lay on her bed. Her eyes were squinted in concentration. Being who I am, I knew what she was thinking.

_Only one more day and it'll be all over. _She grit her teeth to stop the sad expression that fought for her face. _I'll be _glad _it's all over. No more running around the universe. No more hiding from the Doctor. I'll be able get back home, back to normal life, back to my job. I'll be glad… oh, brother! No I won't!_

Rose sat up with a start. The tears had won and the room was distorted with them in her eyes. She let her feet drop to the floor. She reached over to her bedside table. Just as she gripped the handle of the top of its three draws, the door opened. It was the Doctor.

She jumped to her feet. "Hi, Doctor. Where are we off to today?"

The Doctor frowned for a moment and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm not sure. She seems to have a mind of her own today. I couldn't get her to respond to anything."

Rose hid a smile. "We'll just have to be surprised, then!"

She hooked her hands into the back pockets of her jeans and walked up to the Doctor.

"Uh, Rose…" he began.

Rose didn't like the way this was starting out. She interrupted him by pushing past.

"Let's go see where we are!" she said, trying to sound excited.

* * *

Rose pushed open the doors. A smug smile spread across her face when she saw where they were.

The Doctor looked out over her shoulder. His face was quickly spread with worry. "Uh oh."

Rose morphed her face to match his worry. "Is there something wrong, Doctor?" She turned to him.

"Yes. I can't believe the TARDIS brought us here."

"What's wrong with here?" Suddenly Rose became genuinely worried. That's when the Doctor first noticed her strange behaviour.

"It's Kaladius," replied the Doctor, as if that explained it all.

In truth, it did, but Rose wasn't letting on. "What's wrong with Kaladius?" She pronounced it, unflawed.

"You don't want to know."

Rose watched as the Doctor closed the doors and attempted to dematerialize the TARDIS. She couldn't help but grin as the TARDIS coughed and spluttered but could do no more.

"C'mon!" He thumped the consol.

Rose choked back a snigger. The Doctor eyed her.

"Doctor, let's just go and explore Kaladius! It can't be that dangerous."

"It can be," countered the Doctor.

"Doctor, is there something you're not telling me, you know, aside from all the other stuff?"

"That reminds me!" said the Doctor suddenly.

Rose opened the doors again. She stepped out and called back to the Doctor. "Let's go, Doctor. Everything is going to be alright!"

Suddenly there was a loud bang and zap. A bolt of laser shot toward the open TARDIS door.

* * *

I think now would be a good time to tell you some of the things the Doctor _didn't _know about Rose. He didn't know she had a coin-sized tattoo on her left hip, he didn't know Jackie Tyler wasn't her birth mother and he didn't know Pete Tyler wasn't what he seemed. And that's just half of it.

* * *

The laser hit the Doctor. He was thrown to the ground. He writhed. Rose ran to his side concerned, or at least trying to be.

She leant over him and scooped his head into her arms. "Doctor!" she cried. If she had it her way, he would never know what he didn't know.

"Rose, I have to tell you this now." His eyes slowly closed. "I love you."

Rose stared at him. Suddenly she found herself hoping he would regenerate, even though what she knew told her that was an impossible dream. She was tough, but not tough enough. She pulled him closer to her body. Her shirt lifted a little and his closing eyes caught on a blemish on her left hip. It was like a shot to the heart, more painful than the laser. I'm not even sure that it was the laser that finally killed him. Maybe it was seeing that.

* * *

What the Doctor didn't know did more than hurt him, it killed him. If he had known that Rose had been delivered to the Kaladiuns by her father in exchange for Jackie's life, he would have been alive. If he had known Rose had been forced to swear allegiance to the Kaladiun Cult to save her sister, Shireen's, life, he would have been alive.

I was wrong. What you don't know can hurt you. So I'm going to tell you this now: Kaladiun Cultists are very good at holding a grudge. They will kill you if you upset them like the Doctor did.

What Rose knew about the Doctor did more than hurt her, it destroyed her. If he hadn't told her how he felt, she wouldn't have felt so guilty for killing him. If he had just been one of a million, she wouldn't have felt so guilty for killing him.

I was wrong. What you don't know can't hurt you. So I'm still not going to tell you who I am. Instead I'm going to clean up the body, take the girl home, repair myself and loose myself deep in time and space.

Signed,

The Doctor's Best Friend


End file.
